Hi, so I guess I shouldn't say that I am a computer nerd myself, but I do tinker with them and know enough to get by. I wanted to put a thread up where other computer nerds could come and brag about their systems or ask for help or whatever. Anywho, so I just got a new PC, to replace my old Asus laptop. First off, the specs:

• It is an Antec three hundred case.
• MSI P35 Motherboard
• Intel Quad Core2 Q6600 2.4GHz processor
• 4GB DDR2 ram
• 1.5TB Hard Drive
• 2 Nvidia GeForce 9800GT video cards
• Windows 7 Professional

This hardware is a bit outdated but I got the whole setup for $330 with a mouse and keyboard included. There is a guy on Craigslist who builds custom PCs as a hobby and this was his cheapest setup. I plan to run a dual monitor system once I can get another DVI cable for my second monitor.

The main reason I go this was so I could run my games and because my laptop was starting to have freezing issues (related to overheating I think). And my little brother got the same setup minus the HDD and 1 GFX card. He got it for around $250 as a christmas present though.


I got some pictures too.


The second tower in this picture is a spare pc that doesn't work too good. So I am using it as a chair till I get something else

It was a bit hard to get under the desk and get a good picture


Duals!


This is the CPU fan I had before it started making that noise.

It was cool but we think the bearings went on it. So the fan in the picture above is the temp one. It doesn't have a speed control and I don't know where the proper plug is on the mobo (the jet fan had a control ****) so it runs at full speed and gets a bit noisy. But it keeps it cool. Last night I tested it's ability by playing a game called Grand Theft Auto 4 on Steam and it ran very well. Much better than I thought actually and I think it only used memory from 1 GFX card.

All things considered, this is a pretty darn nice computer, better than anything I've ever owned. When I got it the only thing I had was the tower and a keyboard/mouse but before I even got home, my neighbor was asking my step dad if we wanted an old desk he was getting rid of. Turns out it fits perfectly where I want it and is the design I wanted for leg space and table top space. We also had a spare monitor laying around but my VGA to DVI adapter was broken so I had to use the HDMI to my tv (pictured) it wasn't as fun as most would think. But I just purchased 4 19" LCD monitors from a company down the street for $100 and plan to use 2, and either sell or keep the other 2.

Overall I am very happy with this setup.

What do you guys have? Also what kind of games do you play if you play them?

 

My 'stuff' is so old, dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, when I got 'em.

My laptop is an HP 'business' laptop. 1.6 GB. 2 gigs of RAM. 100GB HDD.

My desktop is homebuilt and is almost extinct.
1.6 GB processor.
200 GB HDD and 100 GB HDD
4 GB RAM.
It's got a couple of DVD burners in it, and a CD burner.


I don't game.

 

Hey that's not too bad. I'm glad at least SOMEBODY responded. my first desktop was worse off than yours. But the motherboard died and we replaced it.

 

My home desktop is kick butt.

ASUS motherboard M4A88T-M Series
- 16G
- HDMI video
- fiber optic audio
- USB2 & USB3

AMD Phenom 4-core processor

nVidia graphics card


Will pass anything that doesn't have a solid fuel booster on it.


Every computer that I've ever owned has been AMD. No compliants!


~Bass

 

That's pretty good, my last tower was AMD and it did fine. This one is Intel, the AMD setup was $400...

 

It's always handy to have a laptop around. I'd open that baby up and clean it out with some canned air. You might be surprised at how well it runs after that. I just had some issues with my Asus laptop (&*^$$#*&!&^$ DC jack!), so in the process I cleaned out the fan and heatsinks. I don't hardly hear the fan run any more.

Jason

 

The fans on that thing were pretty quiet already, I tried to pull it apart but I couldn't figure out how. The case just would not come apart.

 

Case: Antec 900 - with a full set of fans running LOL...
Motherboard: MSI 870A-G54 (MS-7599)
CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 440 3Ghz Rana core - I tried unlocking the 4th core but it wasn't stable, so I set it back to a tri-core - it will outrun most low-end quad-cores.
Memory: 4Gb DDR3 1333 - didn't like being oc'd to 1666, oh well...
Video: ATI Radeon HD4850, 1Gb DDR3, and a dying fan...
Monitor: LG Flatron E2242 22" widescreen LED - 1920x1080.
Audio: I have both a Soundblaster X-Fi XtremeGamer card and a 1st-gen Creative Fatal1ty USB gaming headset. I pretty much use the headset all of the time. Screw the onboard sound LOL...
Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech G510 gaming keyboard and a Logitech G500 gaming mouse set to maximum weight.
HDD: Main drive is currently a 320Gb, but it is soon to be upgrade to the 1Tb I pulled out of the DVR I brought home from work. I have a 240Gb set up as a secondary drive that I was using to play around with Linux on.
Plus DVD burner, card reader, etc...

I do a little bit of gaming...

Oh, and this was pieced together over time - it will get upgrades as things die LOL...

 

Dang that's pretty slick! Most of my stuff is considered old tech and outdated but it runs games just fine. I have an Antec 300 case decked out with fans that cycles air in the front then out the top. I really like it and now I can upgrade it as needed. Where my laptop was very limited. The mouse I have is a wireless trackball that I got on Christmas. At the time I didn't have space for an optical mouse so I got a trackball from my step dad and like the way it worked and felt, after that one got worn out I got this new one.

 

Google is your friend. Look up the exact model you have, there's bound to be a step-by-step somewhere online. My Asus comes apart with about 15 Philips screws from the bottom (including one under the battery cover) and a couple on the back.

Jason

 

I tried googling it, they didn't have very much. Maybe I didn't look in the right place, but where I did look there wasn't much more than a simple user guide. There was other videos and manuals but not for my model, I also have an Asus and there are about 5-6 screws to get to the ram and a few other things, and the keyboard comes out easy but the other stuff not so much. I didnt want to break anything so I just put it back together and left it.

 

On some laptops I've seen, the 2 halves of the shell snap together - prying the 2 halves apart can be a pain and, in most cases, those cheapo little plastic snaps break. If you need to pry the 2 halves apart, try to find something made of plastic to pry with - it won't damage the shell as much as a metal tool will...

Also, you may yet have screws hidden under covers - some of those covers aren't so easy to see initially - their may only be a strip of plastic snapped down onto the shell that covers a screw or 2... Screws can also be hidden in the RAM, HDD, and battery compartments as well as under the keyboard - also have a look around the hinges for the monitor screen as those usually have covers that snap on/off and can hide screws.

Laptops are a pain - I don't do them very often...

 

I did find a few hidden screws initially but I am fairly sure I got them all. I pulled the keyboard off and didn't find any screws and couldn't see any under labels on the bottom. I could pry it apart somewhat but up near the fan area and the hinges it didn't want to come apart. Since the laptop is being used by my little sister now and it hasn't had any issues that I've heard about, I guess it's fine.

It is the Asus K52F model.

 

This is about replacing a HD, but it gets you access to the cooling fan and heatsinks, which are the most important to clean. Get everything else you can with the canned air while you're in there.

Jason

 

Yeah i've pulled the HDD out a few times. The fan and heat sink looked pretty darn clean compared to what I'm used too. It was clean under there.